Abstract
In Study 1 and Study 2 consisted of interviews with preschoolers about two representations of Santa Claus: "Santa as an adult in costume" and "Santa who brings us presents at night." Four year-olds tended to judge the Santa-in-costume to be real, while six year-olds tended to judge this representation as not real. In Study 3, in addition to the representations from Studies 1 and 2, we asked children about "Santa whom we meet at the department store," "Santa who visits children's homes in the daytime," "Santa who flies through the sky at night," and "Santa who invites children to Santa Land at night." The five year-olds tended to judge Santa to be real based on his facial appearance. On the other hand, six year-olds tended to judge the Santa that appears in children's homes at night, in the sky, and in Santa Land to be real, and judged the Santa who visits department stores, day nurseries, and children's homes in the daytime to not be real, based on the appropriateness of the context of his appearance.
